Levirate marriage is the Jewish custom which required—in the case of a man who died without any son—the dead man's brother to marry his widowed wife so that any son then born to the couple would carry on the name of the dead man.
The instruction regulating the practice is found in Deut 25:5-10:
If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me." Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.
The term "levirate marriage" has nothing to do with Levi or the Levites, but is derived from the Latin word, levir, for "brother-in-law." The practice of levirate marriage is, surprisingly, found in a number of contemporary societies, but, also just as surprisingly, is not attested in any text from the Ancient Near East outside of Israel. The Hebrew term is yibbum, probably derived from yabam, "husband’s brother,." The verb "yibbem," therefore, means "to carry out the duty of a brother-in-law."
The subject is further discussed in Deuteronomy, Deut 25:5-10.
©ALBERITH
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